Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Zucchini Falafel

These carrot falafels have been on my mind of late and finally I've acted upon my urges. Substituting zucchini for the carrot and adding fresh coriander has given them a new lease of life. Some fafalel can be a bit dry but these have the perfect combination of a crunchy exterior surrounding a wonderfully moist interior.

Place the onion, paprika, cumin and baking powder in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add in the zucchini and chickpeas and pulse again to begin to break up the mixture. Finally add the coriander leaves and pulse just enough to finely chop them.

Place the mixture into a bowl, add a lightly whisked egg and stir it through. As the mix will be soft add just enough breadcrumbs to create a malleable mix.

Take small amounts of the mix and roll into balls or for a quicker and more even result, use a small ice cream scoop to form the falafel.

Roll each ball in breadcrumbs (I used a mix of panko and regular breadcrumbs) and set them aside.

You can store these in the fridge on paper towels if you aren't cooking them straight away.

To cook, either shallow or deep fry until golden and heated through. Drain on paper towels and eat when hot.

An ideal fingerfood served as they are but add pita bread and tabouli and you've got yourself a delicious meal.

Thanks Y - i've just made another adaptation and tested out baking them and it works! They do take a lot longer to cook but if you don't like shallow or deep frying then this is worth trying. I'll probably right up more about them in the next post.

Hi Jean - it is possible - I used a baking paper lined baking tray that I drizzled with a little olive oil, then I rolled the falafel around on the tray to given them a little coating to help then crisp - if you are worried about oil it mostly gets left on the tray but it does add to the flavour. They took about 30+ minutes at around 180°C/350°F and I jiggled them around mid way through to ensure even browning.